I’m so proud of you, Mom … I love you beyond reason … Hope you’re jammin’ in Heaven … are among hundreds of poignant messages that form an artistic expression of love and loss at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Each May, the center holds a service of remembrance to honor patients who died of cancer during the previous year. As part of the ceremony, family members and friends write notes to lost loved ones on strips of muslin cloth, then insert them into a wire and tulle sculpture (see backdrop). After oncology chaplain Rhonda Cooper documents all of the notes, staff members volunteer time to braid them into a rope, which is now more than 50 feet long. Ultimately it will form a sculpture of an urn. Community artist Cinder Hypki, left, who designed the therapeutic art project, says it “allows for very private and collaborative public grief, longing and celebration of loved ones.” Seated beside Hypki are volunteer braiders Colleen Apostol, Weinberg 5A and 5B nurse manager, and Pain and Palliative Care Program nurse coordinator Lynn Billing. The sixth annual Service of Remembrance is scheduled for May 14 at 7 p.m. in the Weinberg Ceremonial Lobby.
Published in
Dome -
May 2015